Taylor Mays working way back from shoulder dislocation and labrum tear

Mays dislocated his shoulder when attempting to tackle Bilal Powell in a game against the New York Jets. According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, the shoulder dislocation tore Mays’ labrum in two places and it took 90 minutes to get put the shoulder back into its socket.

Mays had begun to find a role in the Cincinnati defense as a linebacker in the Bengals’ nickel package before the injury. Instead, his season ended and set forth a lengthy rehabilitation process.

“The hardest part was I tore it where the biceps tendon attaches, so in my rehab process, they were like, ‘No, you can’t do bicep curls,'” Mays said. “As a guy with meathead tendencies, not being able to do bicep curls – that was rough.”

The Bengals re-signed Mays to a one-year deal in March. Mays says he expects to participate in the team’s offseason program which kicks off next week. He estimates the shoulder is close to 90 percent healed, which should put on pace to be back to full strength by the start of training camp in July.